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Ambivalent about this 'achievement' because I should have known earlier. I usually pay attention to only the notes and obvious rhythm notation on a piece and try to delineate the subtle aspects of dynamics and so forth after I get the piece sort of under my hand so to speak.

What I mean by obvious rhythm notation is whatever beat it is in, attention to the half notes/quarter notes/eighth/sixteenth/ etc and basically just try to understand and 'fill in' the rhythm from what I hear from let say a CD or qualifying youtube performance of the piece and take it from there.But what I never paid attention to were the subtle notations regarding rhythm that is just as important, nuances that add or basically 'is' part of the piece that I neglected on perhaps all my pieces I have played thus far.

example like, a chord that is part set to group of eighth notes let say, but part of that initial chord does not have a line attached to it; it is a quarter note, but because it looks same as the eighth note (black note without the vertical line extending to it) I just played the whole chord as if it is a eight noted chord and progress with the other eighth notes, rather than playing the quarter note chord piece sustained for the proper length , along with the following eighth note, then letting go that note, for the rest of the eighth notes....do you know what I am saying?

other things as well.. like small rest notations that I just ignored; I would either sustain through the rest notation or hold a key(s) through it a beat or two past it sometimes without even caring to really delineate that

also never cared to understand the tuplet notation. bracket with a '2' or '6' etc on top I just played through it properly but never really understood the definition behind that nor cared to look it up till now

basically, lot of nuances of rhythm I had never bothered to learn I just went through a whole set of google research to see what I was missing or doing wrong and thus comes along with wrong fingering due to the fact that I never bothered to sustain that particular note for an extra eighth or sixteenth beat hold and so forth.

basic piano theory !!

edit... also unbelievable, I never really noticed the bars differences when broken up let say a few notes in eighths and then the single line is broken at the end to reveal a double line very short to show it is a sixteenth to be played in beat. That I never really paid attention to.Basically all I knew at the time was that the positioning of the eighth notes were spread out more within a measure and the last note was more cramped toward the end of the measure so I just knew it was a sixteenth. not really reading it properly using the single bar and double bar notation. wow basica piano theory.

Good thing is , now I feel more 'armed' about my knowledge of music now. I guess it is just a continual learning process (even though I should hae known this since childhood)

For the longest time I've had a Keith Jarrett version of "Its all in the Game" running through my head. It has this haunting left hand figure running throughout most of it that I just love.Anyway I got to noodling on a lead sheet of the original song (not Jarretts arrangement) and trying to figure out that baseline. I heard it as root - fifth - 10th - 9th - octave.

I showed it to my teacher and she asked me to send her a link to the Jarrett performance. I found it on youtube, plus I found an actual transcription of Jarrett's performance here

Turns out old tin-ear had it pretty much right, although it does vary just a hair throughout the piece. Now I've got to figure out how to play KJ's arrangement, which looks very hard to me, and which he makes sound so easy.

My teacher keeps mentioning things like that. I look at her and say, "Have you actually watched their performances?""Oh, they aren't so good ... they do this and that and the other ..."I have to laugh some times!!!

2 years and some from now... 1 year to get the repertoire under the finger... 1 year to let it mature... why not?

AOTW is that my teacher has blessed me starting Liebesträume No. 3. Gulp! This will definitely be the hardest piece technically I'll have done. Not the main theme - that will be "new" for me keeping a melody shared between the left and right hands. But voicing won't be much different from the Tchaikovsky October.

But those Cadenzas? Yikes!

While she was looking through my "pieces to learn spreadsheet", instead of saying things like, "Oh, that's too hard - a few more years" she said, "Oh, yes Chopin Ballade #1, that's good ... you should add some more harder pieces to this list."

Never mind, I'll keep the spreadsheet handy so we can go back to those pieces after I fail miserably at making Love's Dream a dream ...

I had my first lesson with a teacher last week. Not really much of an achievement and I'm a week late in posting but it was exciting! It was more of an interview to allow her to get acquainted with where I am and how I'm learning. It was my first time playing in front of anyone. Needless to say, I was sweating bullets and botched phrases and bars that I thought I had memorized perfectly. I played her a little hands separate exercise, Greensleeves (the version corysold played for the last recital) and Minuet in A minor by Purcell. Her summarized take on my very beginner playing:

I had good natural hand shape and posture, but I was a little too rigid and fixed in that posture and hand shape so lose some tension and let it flow more. I had solid rhythm and tempo in the pieces I played for her, and must have had a good start and discipline practicing for my month or so of self teaching. I may be trying to progress through pieces too quickly, though, without fully developing the necessary early foundation including technique and sight reading (may be partly due to the book I'm working through).

It was a mixed review but one I pretty much agree with and am thankful for. She gave me extra exercises and pieces to practice that are at or near my level to reinforce some skills. Due to time and money constraints, I will continue to do the majority of my practice and learning by myself and have lessons with her every other week or once a month to check in on my progress and get some helpful feedback.

Quick bit of info so you guys understand where I am and what she saw: Decided to start the piano journey while I'm in a gap year between undergrad and grad schools. Bought a digital piano and The Piano Handbook (Humphries) around mid-December and have been slowly working through the book and supplementing it from various sources here and all around the web. I was hoping to be able to record Minuet in A minor by Purcell for the recital but couldn't get everything set up for a good recording. I'll be better prepared for the next recital.

Sorry if this doesn't exactly qualify as an achievement but I was excited and encouraged from actually playing in front of a teacher and receiving some feedback about my playing. Even the not so positive feedback was exciting

Hey, that's great that you started lessons. From your recap I'd say you are headed in an excellent direction. Don't worry too much about not being able to have more frequent lessons....the fact is, even if you see a teacher every week, most of the learning occurs without the teacher present...it is great that you will have periodic guideance and a check on your progress.

congratulations N17, this sounds very encouraging. I remember my first lesson 14 months ago and how wonderful and terrifying it was at the same time. Would definitely agree with JimF that all the learning is done away from the lesson. A disciplined student and motivated doesn't need a weekly lesson.

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If this life is a simulation can I not be in the easy version where Bach was a drummer

AOTW is that my teacher has blessed me starting Liebesträume No. 3. Gulp! This will definitely be the hardest piece technically I'll have done. Not the main theme - that will be "new" for me keeping a melody shared between the left and right hands. But voicing won't be much different from the Tchaikovsky October.But those Cadenzas? Yikes!

:-) that is a VERY nice piece. the cadenzas are indeed way easier than what they look and sound like... the central part, where you have the melody in octaves and the ornamentation in the middle... that is another story.

Briansaddleback- I know what you're talking about with having to sustain a note while you play Others...(I had to read the paragraph twice before it sunk in, but hey, it is early here ) I find that as I progress I notice more and more detail quicker - it is a comforting sign of progress!

JimF - that's a very nifty accomplishment! Good luck with taking it farther!

Jonathan D - Good beginning!

Andy I had to look up Love's Dream -wow. That's a gorgeous piece! I can't wait to hear you play it!

N17 - getting set up with a new teacher is indeed an achievement - a building block for the ones to come! Sounds like you're off to a very good start!

I had a good lesson this week too - nothing spectacular but I feel back on track. I'm having fun Learning my part of a Diabelli duet and I hope that next week I'll be ready to play it with my teacher, and hear what the whole thing sounds like together!

_________________________ ABF Recitals 18-44Another thing you learn along the way is that the music will still be there when you are ready for it. There's no reason to rush. JimF

Week 103: The songwriting Coursera ramps up to swallow up most of the week. The lectures double in length. The quizzes are twice as hard. The assignment is four times as much work. After four weeks of focusing on the beginning of a song, the assignment is to start a new song from scratch. We are asked to find a new song idea, develop a story, write the full song lyrics, compose matching music (or use one of the music loops provided), record the song with music and vocals. Turn in the storyboard, a rhyme scheme worksheet, and upload the recording with vocals.

My song about pancakes was coming along nicely, but goes to the back burner. Someone on the Coursera songwriting forum suggests using book titles for song titles. Using that process, I find the book Looking for Alaska, which I twist to Looking to Alaska. The new song is moving along quickly, but the list of tasks to complete is daunting. I have no idea how any of the true beginners (which is probably more than half the participants) are going to get it all done. I can see how Berklee music students do it, because unlike the Coursera participants, most Berklee students are pretty good musicians and singers.

I attend the church coffee house night. One of the performers cancels because of blocked roads due to rain. I volunteer to be a last minute fill in. Yikes. I spend a few minutes warming up on whistle and flute to get my set together. I don't have that luxury with the piano. I open with my Pancake song on the Kimball grand piano. Bad idea. I haven't finished writing it yet, much less having it performance ready. I choose it because I have spent more hours on that than anything else for the past month.

The train comes off the rails, but the cars don't flip over. I manage to get to the end after a lot of missed notes. I keep going despite some horrible sounding wrong notes. The audience doesn't know for sure that those are the wrong notes, perhaps dissonance is the effect I am after. But I know they are mistakes. I keep going, wanting to hide, but thinking to find a way to the end. I redeem myself with two tunes on whistle and one on Irish flute.

Despite maybe one hour of practice on wind instruments in the past month, the performances are pretty good. The sound man gets some credit. No, I am not that good on those instruments, but I have a couple of goto tunes that I can rattle off when there is a need.

For the Coursera I will do what I always tell others to do. I will follow the process, make a good effort and let the chips fall where they may. I am Looking to Alaska.

Tubbie good for you! I think piano comes to you easier since you are already accomplished string player in addition to your natural talent.

I'm here sipping wine and basically celebrating today. Yes! My recital is just over and I played my pieces well (for me). I was not concerned about Bach because its my strength. But I played the nocturne much better than I played for lesson, studio class or at home. I knew it was only half way cooked product. Honestly I am still learning how to play this. Because of the forum recital I picked to the piece in January. I picked the easiest nocturne of all the nocturnes Chopin composed and still had the trouble trying to make it sound good. Today I just decided to forget all about it and focus on playing as musical as I can. The sight of audiences helped. I get super excited when I see people watching me. I totally got into the piece. Enjoyed playing through it rocking with the emotion contained in the piece. After the recital I was ready to celebrate but it was too late so I just came home. Wine tastes super good tonight.

Malkin---sorry, I didn't get the joke! A belated chuckle !EarlofMar: Imagine how well I'll play when I'm a "teenager" Briansaddlepack : actually folks really do stick around here - there are some like MonicaK and Mr. Superhunky who have been around since 2005!

Tubbie- that's a wonderful compliment from your teacher!

FarmGirl - that's one of the best accomplishments you could hope for! Being in that "zone" in front of an audience and keeping the nerves under control. CONGRATULATIONS! Enjoy that wine!

_________________________ ABF Recitals 18-44Another thing you learn along the way is that the music will still be there when you are ready for it. There's no reason to rush. JimF

Tubbie good for you! I think piano comes to you easier since you are already accomplished string player in addition to your natural talent.

Actually it was 5 years after I dropped out of piano classes when I studied the violin. So it's really piano that helped me with my violin. Then when I studied the piano again, the violin helped my piano back :-) I know I am not ready to teach anyone really... well maybe beginners?

Congrats on your recital. It is nerve wrecking playing in front of people. And to do that while you can still focus on the music and enjoy it is really really hard! An accomplishment indeed :-)

Congrats to you all! Anniversary, compliment from the teacher, recital, improving... Well done!

For me my main achievement is getting a bit more comfortable with the red dot. I'm following your advise and recording my practices so there is no pressure. I make a lot of mistakes, of course, but knowing that I can just delete the recording without the pressure of a deadline makes it much easier.

I'm also going to start keeping the pieces when I am happy enough with them and start making my own cd compilations. It will be good to see my improvement when I play them again in a couple years time.

I bought a couple of easy piano books from the 80's! Funny to play hits from my teenager years

My AOTW is completing the tough week end. During the spring season, my music calendar is crazy for weekend usually starting from Thursday on top of my regular busy work days. I performed Bach f minor prelude from the book I of WTC and Chopin Nocturne Op 15 #3 for the Phoenix piano club on Thursday (well… it went just oookay) , for my community college recital (went well) on Saturday night (which I talked about on Sat while drinking wine). I went to Opera (season ticket) on Friday night and monthly Sunday classic meeting (local chamber music and other ensemble group) on Sunday after I sang two services for my church on Sunday. Glad completing every thing.

"I bought a couple of easy piano books from the 80's! Funny to play hits from my teenager years grin"

The 80`s imo had the finest popular music ever written. Classical pop I`d call it; the musicianship was exceptional. SO much good stuff to get your hands on, here. It was a bit after my time though. Well, maybe a lot after my . . . .

I"m writing this to possibly help others. It's to let you know that you can have your cake and eat it too. I'm very excited!

I sadly left my old local teacher. I loved her. I couldn't take that music store environment. Someone too often paying close attention to what we were doing. At the very least, distracting to me. Was a major distraction to her also.

I went looking for a teacher online. Found some that I really liked. Still felt a little like Goldilocks. Just not quite right.

Then, on Saturday I had a free introductory lesson with a man. I was overwhelmed. I won't go into details. Lets just say I now Have my Cake and am Eating it Too. This is possible if you look hard enough.